Albarado Reaches 3,000-Win Milestone

Jockey Robby Albarado won his 3,000th race Thursday at Fair Grounds Race Course aboard 2-year-old maiden Isle of Silver.

Albarado, a native of Lafayette, La., has enjoyed his greatest success at Fair Grounds, winning five riding titles in the last seven years. Last season, he set a Fair Grounds record with 13 stakes victories and tied another mark with six wins on a single card.

"Fair Grounds has probably had the biggest impact on my career," Albarado said. "I definitely wanted to reach this milestone here."

Albarado won the 1999 Louisiana Derby (gr. II) aboard Kimberlite Pipe and has captured the Muniz Memorial Handicap (gr. II, formerly the Explosive Bid) three times, most recently in March aboard Mystery Giver.

He received the George Woolf Memorial Award earlier this year. In 2003, he was the regular rider of Horse of the Year Mineshaft.

Albarado's family, including wife Kimber and son Kalen, were on hand Thursday, as was his agent, Lenny Pike.

"We've been together a long time," Albarado said of Pike, "and he does a great job. He takes a lot of pressure off me by putting me on the right horses."

Through Thursday, Albarado leads all Fair Grounds riders with 15 wins.

(Chart, Equibase)